Analysis of a trans-Atlantic Saharan dust outbreak based on satellite and GATE data

Abstract

We present the evolving fields of a Saharan dust outbreak and its associated air mass, as the outbreak and the air mass moved across the Atlantic over a nine-day period. New details are revealed from high-resolution satellite measurements and ship soundings from GATE [Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) Atlantic Tropical Experiment]. A turbidity analysis was produced for each day following dust exit from the African coast. The digital fields are subjected to local space and time continuity checks in order to minimize contamination from small clouds and other error sources. Quantitative turbidity fields show the systematic spreading of the dusty air, its gradual depletion, and its relation to synoptic cloud systems. -from Authors